She urges govt to stop erecting Manchas or people to pull it down
Dhaka, Mar 13 (UNB) – Accusing the government of committing crimes against humanity by killing 170 people in the recent political violence, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday said all this government—from top to bottom — will have to face trial for the offence.
“A tribunal will be formed to try every body — from the number one to the bottom — of this government for committing crimes against humanity by indulging in mass killing. The Prime Minister can’t avoid the responsibility for the mass killing of 170 innocent people,” she told an unscheduled gathering of party leaders and workers in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the evening.
Scores of people were killed in the recent violence erupted following the February 28 judgment of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 against Jamaat-e-Islami nayeb-e-ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee sentencing him to life term imprisonment for perpetrating crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
The BNP chief reached her party’s Nayapaltan central office around 5:45 pm to see for herself the damages reportedly caused by law enforcers during their Monday’s raid on it.
Later, party leaders, including acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee member Mirza Abbas and Dhaka City unit BNP convener Sadeque Hossain Khoka, showed her the damages caused to the office by the law enforcers.
Later, a dejected Khaleda started her address to several thousands party leaders and activists around 6:5pm standing on the first floor balcony of the office.
She alleged that police in a planned way blasted bombs on Monday when a scheduled rally of her party-led 18-party alliance in front of the BNP office was about to conclude, and raided the party office.
The BNP chief said police damaged the office’s important valuables and looted money and documents and arrested over 150 party leaders and activists who took shelter there in the face of police attack.
She said if the detained leaders and activists are not released by Thursday they will enforce all-out hartals on March 18 and 19.
Khaleda urged all to get ready for making the shutdowns an all-out success and said tougher action programmes like hartal and blockade will be announced in the days to come to force this regime to quit.
Claiming that her party does politics instead of indulging in bombing, she said police in a planned way kept bombs at her party’s office and recovered those later.
Khaleda asked the law enforcers to stop firing on people for any trivial matter and disobeying the government’s unjustified orders. Otherwise, she threatened, one day they will have to be accountable for it.
Without naming the Shahbagh Ganajagaran Mancha, Khaleda criticised the ongoing movement of the youths demanding execution of all war criminals, saying the government on one hand is foiling the opposition’s peaceful programmes by firing and attacking on the other guarding and patronising the atheists to divert people’s attention from their misdeeds and grafts.
The former premier asked the government to refrain from erecting ‘so-called Manchas’ (Podiums) in the country, or else she warned, it would not get the escape route if people start erecting their own Manchas.
“You (govt) are looking for an escape route after massive plundering over the last four years across the country, you won’t be allowed to flee,” she told an unscheduled gathering of party leaders and workers in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the evening.
Turing to the war crimes trial, she said the incumbent Home Minister was himself a razakar and he too be put on trial. “There’re too many razakars in Awami League like the Home Minister. They need to be held first.”
Issuing a note of warning, Khaleda said, “Still, there is time, create an environment for a fair election or quit …otherwise people will drag you down.”
Holding the government responsible for the recent attacks on the minority community, the BNP chief said, “The country belongs to all. Stop attacks on minority people. We asked our party men to ensure safety of them. We were with you in the past and we’ll be there in the future, too”
Earlier on Monday, several crude bombs were exploded while the rally of the opposition alliance was about to conclude.
After the blasts, police raided the BNP office and arrested over 150 leaders and activists of BNP, including, its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, vice chairmen Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abedin Farroque, BNP joint secretaries general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Amanullah Aman.
However, three of the BNP leaders — Fakhrul, Khoka and Altaf Hossain Chowdhury — were released on Tuesday noon.
Source: UNBConnect
